Florida Health News

Legislators: Consumers have right to know hospital prices

By Carol Gentry
4/30/2008 © Florida Health News

It’s been observed that only the health care industry expects customers to make major purchases without first knowing the price, or even getting a ballpark estimate. Now a bill on its way to Gov. Charlie Crist would do something about that.

The Health Care Consumers Right to Information Act, which passed both Senate and House unanimously, requires the Agency for Health Care Administration to publish on its Web site the amount that health facilities charge – the undiscounted retail rates – for at least 150 common procedures, both outpatient and inpatient. AHCA already collects this information.

The bill also requires a health-care provider or facility to tell uninsured patients, without being asked, what a non-emergency treatment costs, on average, before they undergo it. They have to provide insured patients, upon request, an estimate of the discount price that their insurer will pay. Facilities also must publish their charity care discount policy if they have one.

The bill was backed by Florida HealthCHECK, a coalition of consumer and business groups that aims to improve consumers’ access to health-care information. “We’re thrilled,” said coalition member Sally House of the Florida Retail Foundation. She said it’s vital for the 3.8 million uninsured Floridians and those who have high-deductible policies to know ahead of time what they’ll owe. “They need to be able to compare prices at different facilities,” she said.

The bill almost died when Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami-Dade, amended it to order a state study of non-profit hospitals to determine their level of charity care and community benefits. Hospitals balked. When the amendment was dropped, the bill sailed through the House Tuesday afternoon.

The undiscounted rates for treatment will be posted on the FloridaHealthFinder website at http://www.floridahealthfinder.gov, which currently displays prices for 71 procedures. Health care providers and facilities that fail to comply with the requirements would be subject to fines.

--Carol Gentry, editor, can be reached at Carol.Gentry@FloridaHealthNews.org or 727-410-3266.